Pac-10 picks — including UW game

Humbling day Thursday for the picks. Nobody picked all four games. Wow. That’s a shocker. Blame the Huskies. Almost everybody picked Washington.
The only person who didn’t, Derrial Book – 96 Dawg went against the grain and picked UCLA to win 83-72. It hardly matters that the score was way off – the Bruins won 62-61 – what matters is DB -96 DG is the big winner. If you’re going to a UW game this season, let me know privately in an e-mail and I’ll get your prize to you.
I imagine the picks will be a little different today. Just a guess. Anyway, full slate of games. Let’s get to it.TODAY’S GAMES:
Oregon State at California, 11 a.m.
Washington State at UCLA, 1 p.m. (FSN)
Oregon at Stanford, 5 p.m.
Arizona at Arizona State, 7:30 p.m.
Washington at USC, 7:30 p.m. (FSN NW)My picks: Cal, UCLA, Stanford and ASU.Pac-10 record: 17-14.AND THE UW-USC WINNER IS …

The Trojans, 63-58.
I don’t believe in curses, voodoo or bad mojo, but something is going on with the Huskies when they’re on the road. How else to explain how a talented team is 12-1 at home and 0-5 in away games.
I don’t think Washington will finish 0-11 in road games, but the Huskies would have trouble beating the Trojans at Hec Ed. Expecting them to do it at Galen Center seems far fetched.
UW won’t face a zone, which is good news. The bad news, USC has the third best scoring defense in the country, allowing 55.4 points per game.
This should be low-scoring contest and that’s toxic to UW.
Washington is 1-4 in games when it scores 70 points or fewer. USC has only allowed one opponent more than 70. The Trojans have held 12 of its 18 opponents to 56 points or less.
The Huskies need to get off to a fast start. Washington State overcame a 15-point second half deficit to pull out a win at USC, but it’s unlikely the Trojans collapse like that again.
Both teams badly need this game. A loss gives UW five defeats in conference and only once has the Pac-10 winner had five losses. The season: 1984-85. The co-winners: Washington and USC.